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I hope spring is treating you well! North Carolina has bloomed and the scenery is absolutely awash with color. It’s absolutely stunning to see the changes day to day and to see the life everywhere!

Looking out my front door has reminded me of something: Change is constantly happening all around us.

Whether it’s in the scenery outside as spring approaches or in our lives and we need to deal with it. But I don’t like change. Change is stressful. Change is unknown. The Unknown is stressful.

For me, Stress is incredibly difficult to deal with. I tend to take stress & ball up and shove it deep down- Sorta to that spot where you develop heartburn- and I leave it there until it bubbles up and over like some 3rd grade, reject volcano from the school science fair and I explode. It’s not pretty.

When I get stressed, my mind races a million miles a minute and I can’t focus on a single thing for more than a second before it pings to the next item- I call it “ping pong brain.” This rapid thought switching is incredibly overwhelming and is a symptom of the overwhelming anxiety that a great deal of stress brings. That is ultimately the real problem with my stress: Anxiety.

And this is where I discovered something absolutely fascinating.

I frequently read science articles and these articles often discuss new theories and studies. One study that was being conducted was using video games to reduce psychiatric symptoms in patients. One part that I found particularly interesting was using puzzle matching games to treat anxiety. One game in particular was mentioned in the article: Candy Crush.

Well I hopped over to the App Store figuring I had nothing to loose since I already enjoyed playing candy crush before and downloaded the app. I promised myself the next time I felt anxious or ping pong-y I would try to play the game as the article stated the subjects did.

It wasn’t long before life made my anxiety creep up and my mind went to ping and pong. I tapped the app and started to concentrate on matching the brightly colored little candies. I was able to focus a lot better than I thought I would be. I actually made it through 14 levels before I realized it and I looked up and 35 minutes had passed.

It worked.

So I tested the theory out a few other times and it kept working. I was amazed. I even stopped myself from going full melt down in Walmart. Major win.

It’s not the most ideal thing- that would be no anxiety and no stress… but I have anxiety and I have a life so I have stress and I have a way to sorta deal with it which is kinda working.